Making a Microdoc

ACTE welcomes schools and career technical education centers that possess video production capacity to create and submit their own Microdocumentary stories, to be included in the Putting America to Work collection. ACTE is committed to the use of the Microdocs series to convey the contemporary state of CTE and to encourage learners to pursue their career and college readiness through career and technical studies.

To have your students video productions to be considered for inclusion in the Putting America to Work collection, the following criteria must be met:

  1. All Microdocs must directly correlate to an ACTE Sector sheet. Current Sector Sheets can be found online
    • There are many career pathways correlated with each sector.
  2. Microdocs are to be inspirational stories about individuals, learners, their teachers and/or the programs they study within. They are not to promote a specific school, Center or program. Other key elements that must be addressed in a Microdoc are:
    • The individual profiled should have overcome some obstacle or barrier in their lives by pursuing a CTE pathway to a career
    • The sector should represent a contemporary, 21st century approach to the career. Where information technology enables or supports the career should be discussed and presented in story.
    • The story should include specific data points on text slides. Data points should include a reference point for the story, and career potential information (can be found in the Sector Sheets) or accessed through ACTE.
    • Each Microdoc should not be less than 04:00 or more than 05:00 in total running time.
    • Opening title sequence must use the templated animation with the sector named.
    • Each Microdoc must have a sub-title, following the convention of the exisitng collection naming protocol. A creative sub-title connects the sector with the specific story presented.
    • Microdocs must have talent release forms for all persons seen or heard in the video production, and written permission to film on-site for all depicted locations. The closing credits must include personnel involved in the production, and reference any approved supporting video contained in the video.
    • All copyright permissions for any images, audio or music must be held or granted for use to the producing party and their designee (ACTE).
    • Upon notification of interest in producing for the ACTE Microdoc series, the Senior Director of Programs and Communications at ACTE will coordinate with the producing entity to ensure clear communication of expectations and requirements are conveyed. All decisions whether to include a final version of a third-party produced Microdoc is the exclusive domain of ACTE.

Read the step by step overview for creating your own Microdoc.